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I'm sure I'll get flamed...
unique is fine, but bad design is just bad design. The new center stack is just bad design.
Saying the Mini owners are a different breed with higher standards and an excuse why the car shows so poorly in initial quality is just that, an excuse. I know lots of automotive enthusiasts across many car marques, and this explanation just doesn't hold water. Porsche gets high grades. Think thier owners are pussies?
I've been around new Minis for almost as long as they've been in the US. What I do find is that the new MINI has a higher percentage of people who haven't had an "enthusiast" car before and have had thier eyes opened to the possibility of a car as much more than basic transportation.
What I've also seen, read and heard is tons of really weak explanations about how we should really accept bad design or quirky behaviours for the privalage of driving such a unique and pleasureable automotive experience. That's total BS. Some other car maker will figure out how to package what we like in a car without the bad design elements or the high amount of little problems and eat MINIs lunch. That's the nature of this game. We should all hold MINI to a high standard if we want them to stay on top of thier game, not come up with excuses why we should put up with less than idea form or function.
And for what it's worth, I've got tons of unique car experience under my belt, get to drive some of the best that the industry has to offer, and am seeing what is out there, both old and new. When the MINI first came out, there was a huge gap between what MINI offered in a cost for value or cost for performance proposition. Now, that gap is much, much smaller, if it exists at all.
So, let's stop making excuses for what MINI is doing wrong, and help them get with the program to continually improve the breed. Automotive companies are a lot like sharks. They stop moving, they die. Let's get MINI to move in the right direction so we can have them with us for a long time making cars that are fun to drive and a good value to own.
Matt
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